Oregon Coast

It all started with a call from my old service buddy Brian.

"Hey, Manny, we're having a beach party in three weeks at John's house. We want to have one last get together before Allison gets too big to go out."

Finals were coming up, but when people are celebrating the impending birth of your best friend's first son, you show up even if it's inconvenient. I don't know why those guys thought that February was a great month for a beach party. Storms blow in all the time, and while it may be fun to watch from in front of a roaring fireplace, it's hell to drive through. That's one reason I bought the Element: while in my younger days I wouldn't have been caught dead in it- and still wouldn't in the barrio- it's a great bad weather vehicle. Lydia came looking for me with another girl in tow.

"Manny, you're heading back early, right?"

""Yeah, I have finals in Marketing and Statistics next week."

She pulled the other girl forward a little bit.

"Listen, Emily here wants to head back early too. She rode out with us. Would you mind giving her a ride back?"

I looked at her. Small girl with red hair and porcelain skin to go with the Irish name, along with a cute little nose.

"No trouble at all. Hi, Emily, I'm Manny Rodriguez."

Lydia looked a little abashed.

"Sorry, forgot you two hadn't met."

"How are you on statistics, Emily?"

"We just met and you're asking for measurements? Lydia, are you sure I should go off alone with this guy?"

"Not your statistics! I was asking if you'd help me study for my finals on the drive back. I'm working on my MBA."

Emily's blue eyes twinkled.

"I figured it was something like that. Sorry, but I'm a librarian. I can help with Dewey Decimals, but that's about the closest I get."

"Well, I may try you on flash cards anyway."

"Sure, no problem."

Lydia spoke up.

"To answer your question, Manny served with Brian and Doc in Afghanistan, and they literally trust him with their lives. You're actually a lot safer with him than by yourself."

"Really? Well, I guess I'll take your word for it. When do you want to leave, Manny?"

"Can you be ready in an hour?"

"I'm pretty much packed already. Let me go say some goodbyes and I'll be good to go."

Emily headed off toward the other end of the house. Watching her go was pleasant. Lydia nudged me.

"Whaddaya think, Manny? Pretty cute?"

"Would you girls knock it off? I've got enough on my plate without looking for a girlfriend right now. She is cute, though."

"Cute, bright, and single. No harm in giving you a chance and seeing what happens."

"I'm going to drop her off at her house, and that's all that's going to happen."

Lydia smirked.

"That's what John said about me."

"John had a crush on you from day one."

"Day two. I was a real bitch to him when we first met."

"Don't talk about yourself that way, Lydia. You're one of the kindest people I know."

"I'm just being honest. The last thing I wanted was another rich preppie hitting on me."

While she tried to keep it a secret, it was common knowledge that Lydia's family was extremely wealthy and she grew up in the ritziest waterfront suburb of Seattle.

"John's not like that. Last time we were in LA he fit in with my homies from the barrio without even trying. Of course, using him as a ringer on their soccer team helped. The other team was baffled by the goofy looking gabacho who stopped everything they threw at the net."

"He's not, but it took me a while to figure it out. Making it up to him has been a lot of fun. Anyway, just get to know her. She's a really neat girl."

"Not giving me a lot of choice, are you?"

Allison Miyahara wandered up.

"Manny, only you would complain about us trying to find you a pretty girl."

Lydia gave her a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek, and I did the same.

"Of course you like the idea. You used to be one of the pretty girls they were trying to fix up, and look at you now. You look beautiful, by the way. How's Doc taking it?"

"I feel fat. Emerson's going nuts, and taking me with him. With all the pregnant women and babies he's taken care of, you'd think he wouldn't be so freaked out about me."

"It's different when you're madly in love with the pregnant lady in question. Maybe Brian and I should take him out and get him drunk one of these days."

"I hate to encourage you bums, but it might do him some good. At least it would give me a break. Call me later."

"Will do. It's about time for another veterans' meeting anyway."

Allison laughed.

"Meeting, my rapidly expanding butt. All you guys do is get half cut and tell lies."

"What's wrong with that? Your butt looks fine to me, too."

Emily came around the corner as I finished the sentence, with Emerson alongside her carrying luggage.

"Manny, you dumb wetback, just keep your eyes off my wife's butt!"

"Chinga te, Doc. You're the one who goes around with his eyes closed all the time, so don't complain about mine!"

Doc dropped the luggage and jumped me, and we wrestled around a little on the carpet before Lydia yelled at us to break it up. I helped him up.

"Seriously, compadre, you OK? You know Al and the baby are going to do great, right?"

"I know they're doing great, but you have to remember that I don't deal much with the easy pregnancies. It's the problem ones that doctors spend a lot of time on. It's hard not to get nervous about it."

"I was just telling Al that Brian and I need to take you out for some R&R. I'll call you in a week or so."

"Sounds good. Be careful driving back."

"You too. Remember that you've got my godson with you now."

I hugged him for real, and then hugged Al. I made sure Doc saw me pat her rear end. He growled and Al punched me, giggling. I turned.

"Ready to go, Emily?"

She was staring at me with a look of disbelief.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so."

Emily was quiet for the first mile or so. I finally asked.

"Something wrong?"

"Is there some reason I shouldn't think I'm driving off into the woods with a lunatic after that little performance?"

"What, you mean Doc and I?"

"Racial insults, fighting, and groping his wife, and you act like best friends? What's going on with you two?"

"Lydia mentioned that we were in the service together, right? I guess we tend to revert to acting young and crazy when we get together. You know I'd never actually hurt Doc, right?"

"It did look like you were holding back."

"Doc M is the bravest man I've ever known, but probably not the strongest physically. The guys used to say that carrying his brains and his, uh, cojones around didn't leave a lot of space for muscles. I don't have anything to prove by outwrestling him, and he proved everything he ever needs to in Afghanistan."

"And the racial stuff?"

"Privilege of brothers in arms. The last idiot who made a racial crack to him in front of me and Brian had to be carried away by his friends. Between us it's just a joke. He really is my best friend."

"You're starting to sound like a violent guy."

I stared out the windshield, thinking about it.

"I guess I've seen more than my share of violence, and it doesn't scare me. That doesn't mean I like it. Look, enough about me for a while. How did you become a librarian?"

"Well, I tried bullfighting, but the red hair screwed up my career. The bulls kept chasing my head instead of the cape. I needed some excitement in my job, and this was the next best thing."

I glanced at her and caught the twinkle in her eyes.

"Why don't I believe that?"

"Because you're smarter than you look? How about I got a work-study job in the library in college, liked it, and made it a career?"

"That I can believe. You know the Girls from college?"

"I used to help Karen find nursing texts once in a while. We ran into each other again after college and started hanging out. A familiar face goes a long way when you're new in town."

"Well, they're all extraordinary women. Being a friend of theirs says a lot for you."

"Back atcha. They wouldn't give you the time of day if you weren't a decent guy at heart."

"I try to be, anyway. Hope I didn't scare you goofing around with Doc."

"You did have me wondering there for a while."

"Anyway, want to try me on some Statistics terms?"

So she found the flash cards and drilled me for a while. Eventually I told her to stop.

"Look, this storm is getting really bad. I need to concentrate on the road."

The wind was getting strong enough to push the truck around on the road, and the snow was starting to hurt visibility.

"Is this safe?"

"In a few more miles we'll be over the top and things should improve."

We didn't quite make it over the top. As I came around a bend the road disappeared under a mass of snow, rocks, and tree trunks. I carefully stepped on the brakes.

"Looks like a snowslide. We're not getting through here any time soon. I'm heading back to see if we can get through a different way or at least find a place to stay warm until the Highway Department reopens the road."

I did a careful three point turn in the road- getting stuck in a ditch would be a major embarrassment up here- and headed back. We made it about three miles before we found the road blocked by some fallen trees. I got out to take a look and came back with some bad news.

"Those trees are too big to pull out of the way with this truck, I don't have room to get around them, and I don't have a chain saw to cut a way through. I think we're stuck for a while."

Emily was looking a little scared.

"Are we going to be OK?"

"No reason we shouldn't be. I have food and water in the truck, and the Highway Department will be working hard to reopen the road. All we need to do is sit tight until they come through."

"How long will that be?"

"Depends on how bad things are. Anything on the radio?"

She had been fiddling with it.

"All I can pick up is that this is a major unexpected storm. They aren't saying how bad the roads are. How about that side road a couple miles back?"

"Most of those are just logging roads that go up into the hills a few miles and dead end. See, that one's not even on the map. Heading up there will just make things worse."

She shivered a little, looking out at the dark evergreens half hidden by the hard-blown snow.

"Are there wild animals up here?"

I almost laughed before I saw the look in her eyes. She wasn't kidding.

"The same you get anywhere in the woods. Deer, elk, coyotes, the occasional bear or cougar. They're all going to be hiding from the storm and they don't want to go near people anyway. We're fine in the truck."

I drove back until I found a turnout on the side of the road, pulled off, and parked.

"I'm going to have to turn the truck off so we don't burn up all our gas. It may start getting a little cold. If you have extra clothes you may want to put them on."

I mentally slapped myself for looking in the rear view mirror as she bent over the back seat to reach her luggage. She did have an extremely shapely little rear end. Not gentlemanly, maybe, but what was I hurting? She came up with a white cable knit sweater and pulled it on.

"Nice sweater."

"Thanks. It's my old family pattern."

"How's that?"

"Every Irish fishing family had its own sweater pattern. Made it easier to identify any bodies of drowned fishermen that washed up."

She shuddered.

"That's a pretty morbid thought under the circumstances, isn't it?"

"What's the big deal? At worst we're stuck out here overnight. We're not in any danger."

"Easy for you to say. I'm a city girl from Boston. You're an ex-Marine who's been all over the world."

"Former Marine, please. There's no such thing as an ex-Marine. Once a Marine, always a Marine."

"Sorry. With all the Former Marines around Southie I ought to know that."

"Southie?"

"South Boston. More Irish there than in Dublin, and a big tradition of serving in the Marines."

"That's where you're from?"

"My roots are there. My parents moved to the burbs when I was young. Where are you from?"

"East Los Angeles, originally."

"Tough place."

"It could be, but I have a lot of good memories too. Anyway, are you really scared by this?"

"Uncomfortable, anyway. I'm out of my element here."

"Look at it as a chance to learn something new. I promise you won't get eaten by bears."

She laughed.

"I am being a little silly, aren't I?"

"Not for a librarian. You want to work on my tests some more?"

"Sure, why not?"

She helped me work through my finals prep until it got too dark to read. She was obviously a smart girl, and while she didn't know much about business school she was a quick study.

"Let's see what they're saying on the radio about the roads."

I turned the car on and ran it for a while to reheat the interior while she searched the stations. From what they said, we were looking at being stuck a while before the Highway Department came through.

"Anyone expecting you?"

"What could I do if there were? I already checked and my cell phone is out of range."

"Hmm, so's mine. Oh well, you hungry?"

"What have you got?"

I crawled into the back and grabbed the used whiskey box full of supplies that lives back there. Then I folded down the rear seat, creating a fairly wide, flat space.

"Ever had an MRE?"

"Can't say I have. What's that?"

I pulled a flat tan package out of the box and held it up.

"Meal Ready to Eat, AKA Meal Rejected by Ethiopians. I promised myself I'd never eat one again after I got out of the service, but I keep a few in the truck for emergencies. Crawl on back here where we've got some room."

She settled herself cross-legged across from me and picked up one of the packages.

"Hmm, chicken and rice? Is that good?"

I stifled a laugh.

"They all taste the same to a guy from East LA."

"What's so funny?"

"Aw, you don't want to know."

"Sure I do."

"Well, there's this thing called 'Skippy's List' that's been floating around military e-mails for years. Supposedly it's a list of things some grunt was told by his sergeant to stop doing. There's about a hundred of them."

"So?"

"One of them is 'don't use the chicken and rice MRE for a sexual lubricant.'"

Emily's lip curled, and she gave me an old fashioned look.

"I hope you don't think you're going to need that tonight."

"I wasn't suggesting anything! You asked what I was laughing about. I can't look at a chicken and rice MRE without thinking of that."

She glanced at the package and tossed it back into the box.

"Now I can't either. What else do you have?"

She settled on chicken fajitas, and I got out my Swiss Army knife and showed her how to open up and use the contents.

"Does this "flameless ration heater" thing work?"

"It does, but it gives off a lot of gases. It's not a good idea to use it in an enclosed space."

"You really know how to show a girl a good time, don't you? Oh well, here goes."

We ate the MREs cold. Emily grimaced at the finish.

"Well, could have been worse, I guess. Can we check the radio?"

According to the radio there was still major damage and they didn't expect to get the roads open until morning.

"I guess we're stuck here overnight."

I hesitated.

"Look, I only have one sleeping bag in here, and the only sensible thing to do is to share it. That's not a sexual proposition, so don't get mad."

"In for a penny, in for a pound. I just have to warn you that if my brothers hear about this you may find yourself standing at the altar down at St. Patrick's with an Irishman holding a shotgun in the front pew."

"Protective, are they?"

"Don't get me started. I was lucky to go on one date a year in high school because they terrorized all the boys who took any interest in me."

"That must have kept them busy."

"You sure you're not part Irish with that kind of blarney? You wouldn't say that if you knew me in high school."

I wasn't going to push the flirting when she was stuck with me in the middle of nowhere- she was obviously skittish already.

"Well, anyway, let's get settled down."

I pulled out the sleeping bag and started getting it out of the bag.

"Hey, look out the window for a minute."

"What? Oh, OK."

I turned my back and heard her moving around. Suddenly an elbow caught me in the back of the head, and I turned.

"Ouch! What the heck are you doing?"

She finished some odd contortions by producing something white and lacy from under her multiple layers of sweaters, which she quickly stuffed into her duffle bag.

"How hard is it to give me a little privacy?"

"I was fine until you hit me in the head! What are you doing, anyway?"

"Sorry. I can't sleep with a bra on, never could. Don't let that give you ideas."

"Uh, yeah, no problem."

I already had all the ideas I needed, but I wasn't going to admit it and get her even more nervous. I laid down next to her and got us covered with the sleeping bag.

"Want to study some more?"

"Let's save the flashlight batteries for now."

"OK... So tell me how you got to be friends with Brian and Doc."

"My platoon got assigned to pull security for their engineering unit. They had been having a lot of trouble with Talibani types sneaking around at night planting bombs, vandalizing stuff, and sometimes probing in force. Those guys were pretty tough for squids, but they're not trained infantrymen and having to deal with security themselves was slowing down their construction work."

"And you got to be friends that way?"

"Right. Once my guys figured out that trying to pick on Doc would start a major fight every time we all got along."

"That happen a lot?"

"Not after we had been there a few days. Once my guys realized that Doc had absolutely no fear when it came to helping a wounded guy who needed him, they felt the same way."

It was actually fun swapping stories in the dark, but it was getting cold. We were laying there shoulder to shoulder looking at the roof and kept trying to arrange the sleeping bag to cover both of us fully. Emily finally gave a big sigh.

"This is silly, Manny. We're both cold and uncomfortable and there's no reason to be. Would you mind if I put my head on your shoulder?"

"Heck, no."

I put an arm around her, and she settled herself against me. She was definitely warm and smelled terrific.

"I still don't want you getting ideas, but you have to admit this is a lot warmer and more comfortable."

Well, parts of me were getting less than comfortable, but I knew she didn't want to know about that.

"Yeah, it is. This is a real improvement on sharing a Bradley with six infantrymen who haven't showered in two weeks."

"I'll take that as a compliment, I guess. Let's get some sleep."

I was awakened in the middle of the night by a sharp pain in my ribs. I stirred, and Emily elbowed me again.

"Hmphh? Whassup?"

"You mind moving your hand, Romeo?"

Lessee... She was spooned up against me, head on my bicep, that hand out of the covers-no problem there- other hand resting on her sweater with something soft under it- Oh. That hand jumped like her right breast had suddenly glowed red hot.

"Damn, I'm sorry. I was asleep and didn't feel much under all those clothes. Didn't realize what I was doing."

"If you're going to grope me, could you at least not complain that it's an unimpressive experience?"

"I wasn't groping you! Why do girls always get a complex about their breast size, anyway?"

I could feel her giggles as her body rested against me.

"Why do men drool over big breasted women? That's a conversation for another day. I know you didn't mean it. Sorry about the elbow."

She firmly moved my hand to rest on her upper arm.

"Let's just get some sleep."

I pulled her in a little tighter and we went back to sleep, only to be awakened a couple hours later by the sound of chain saws and heavy equipment. I sat up and wiped a clear space on the glass.